hse Three gorges Dam 三峡大坝对自然环境的影响英文.docx

hse Three gorges Dam 三峡大坝对自然环境的影响英文.docx

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hseThreegorgesDam三峡大坝对自然环境的影响英文

Abstract

ThemainobjectiveofthisresearchprojectwastoinvestigatetheimpactsofChina’sThreeGorgesDamonthesurroundingenvironment.Afterreadingandcollectingarangeofsourcesfrominternet,journalarticlesandbooks,Imanagedtoarrangetheseimpactsintodifferentaspectssystematically.ThebenefitsofThreeGorgesasarenewableenergysourcewerefirstlyexpressed.Thenegativeenvironmentalconsequencesparticularlyaddressedweretheincreasingfrequencyoflandslides;thedisruptionofbiodiversity;thelargescaleofdeforestation;thecontaminationofYangtzeRiverwatersource.Conclusionishencereachedthatthenegativeenvironmentimpactsofthedamoutweighedthepositive.TheresearchprojectacknowledgedChineseGovernment’seffortstopreventtheadverseenvironmentimpacts,discussedtheimportanceofsustainabledevelopment.Futurefatesofthedamwerealsocommented.

Introduction

Fullyfunctionedfrom4thJuly,2012,ThreeGorgesDaminHubei,Chinaistheworld’slargestpowerstationintermsofinstalledcapacity（ThreeGorgesDam,http:

//www.wikipedia.org/,2014）.ChineseGovernmentconstantlyportraysthedamasasymbolofChina’sadvancedtechnologyandasymbolofChina’srapiddevelopment.Thepositivecommentsarecorroboratedbyremarkablefacts.Thetotalelectricgeneratingcapacityofthedamis22500MW（ThreeGorgesDam,http:

//www.wikipedia.org/,2014）;anexecutivewithChinaYangtzeRiverThreeGorgesProjectDevelopmentCorporationmentionedthatthedamaccountsfor14%ofChina’stotalhydrogenerationin2012（ThreeGorgesProjectcapableofgenerating47blnkwhofpower,2005）.However,ThreeGorgesDamhasalwaysbeenacontroversialissue.Infact,theprojectisseenasanenvironmentalcatastrophebymanyexpertsandactivistsabroad.Inthisresearchproject,generalizationoftheenvironmentalbenefitsofThreeGorgesDamwillfirstbemade.Themainfocuswillbetheadverseenvironmentalimpactsofthedam,namelylandslides;disruptiontoecosystem;deforestationandYangtzeRiverwaterpollution.

BodyParagraphs

TherearesomeundeniableenvironmentalbenefitsoftheThreeGorgesDam.Chinadesperatelyneedssufficientelectricpowertomeetthedemandofgrowingelectricityconsumption,soindustrializationcouldbesustained（ThreeGorgesProjectcapableofgenerating47blnkwhofpower,2005）.InChina,energywaschieflyachievedthroughtheburningoffossilfuelsbeforetheconstructionoftheThreeGorgesDam.Variousgreenhousegaseswereproducedduringthecombustion.Asaresult,Chinaisfrequentlycriticizedbyglobalenvironmentalistsfor“deterioratingthesituationofglobalwarming.”Hydroelectricpowerisacleanandrenewablesourceofenergytoprovideelectricity.AccordingtoXieXiufa,aseniorengineeroftheThreeGorgesBureauundertheYangtzeRiverWaterResourcesCommittee（Wertz,2007）,“ThreeGorgesDamiscapableofgenerating84.7billionkilowatt-hoursofelectricityayear.Everyyear,itcanreduce50milliontonsofcoalconsumption,approximately100milliontonsofcarbondioxide,2milliontonsofsulphurdioxides,around10,000tonsofcarbonicoxideandabout370,000tonsofnitrogenoxide.”HenceThreeGorgesDamremarkablycontributestothereductionoffossilfuelscombustion,facilitatesthealleviationofglobalwarming.Judgedbytheexhilaratingpositiveenvironmentalimpacts,ThreeGorgesDamseemstobeanecessary,beneficialandreasonableprojectdespiteitscosts.

Eventhoughtheprojectisanenvironmentalfriendlyalternativetofossilfuelscombustion,theThreeGorgesDamhashaddestructiveimpactsontheenvironment.Somenoticeableaspectsincludetheincreasingfrequencyoflandslides;thedisruptionofbiodiversityandecologicalstability;deforestationandYangtzeRiverwaterpollution.

ThreeGorgesDamincreasedthefrequencyoflandslidesinYangtzeRiverarea,asthefluctuationsofwaterlevelandthehugeweightofthewaterhaveaffectedthelandstability.InoneaspectthewaterbehindtheThreeGorgesDamisbeyondthewithstandinglimitoftheYangtzeRiverbank（Jiang,2007）.Sowaterstartstoseepintotheloosesoilatthebasesofrockycliffs,makethelandmorepronetolandslides.Inanotheraspectthisisascribedtothefluctuationofwaterlevel.Insummer,engineersdrainthereservoirtoaccommodatefloodwater;howeverthewaterlevelisraisedattheendoffloodseasoninordertogeneratepower.Thefrequentchangesinwaterleveldamageddownstreamdikesusedforlandcontrol,triggeredalotoflandslides（Campbell-Hyde,2007）.Frequencyoflandslideisalsoincreasedduetothelossinsedimentandnutrientsdownstream.YangtzeRiverisvulnerable（Yang,2007）.ResearcherShai（2007）statedtheriverbedabovethesurroundingcountrysideisfirstlyraisedbysedimentation.Theyarethenheldbackbydikes.Thedamtrappedmostofthesilts,reducedspeedoftheYangtzewaterflowbehindthedam,whichmeanswaterreleasedbyThreeGorgeswillrunfaster,threatenthedikesfurthermore.Upto2006,theareahasalreadyexperiencedmorethantenlandslidesalongone20-milestretchofriverbank（Jiang,2007）.AccordingtoTanQiwei,vicemayorofChongqing,themostseverelandslidewastheoneoccurredin2006afterthefillingofthe600-kilometrereservoir.36kilometresofshorelinehadcavedin.Thelandslidehadproducedwavesashighas50metres（Chan,2007）.

Thediagrambelow（Anon.,2012）showstheextentthatThreeGorgesDamaffectedlandstabilitysinceitsconstruction.

Inadditionthedamhashadseriousimpactsontheecosystem,disruptedtheecologicalequilibrium.López-Pujola,J&MandRen（2009）foundthroughresearchthattheYangtzeRiverecosystemisoneofthemostcrucialbiodiversityareasinChina.About6000plantspecies,500terrestrialvertebratesand160speciesoffishevolve,breedandlivethere.Amongthem,47speciesareendangered.ThemostpreciousspeciesisChineseRiverDolphinBaiji,knownas“GoddessoftheYangtze".In1990,thepopulationofdolphinBaijiwasestimatedtobe200.SincetheconstructionofThreeGorgesDamin1994,Baiji’shabitatsinthethreegorgesareawerethreatened;makethespeciesmorefragileandvulnerable.In1998,onlysevenbaijisarefoundinanofficialsurvey.In2003,theThreeGorgesDambegantofillthereservoir（Baiji,http:

//www.wikipedia.org/,2014）.Duringthisperiod,consequentproblemsofflooding,waterdiversion,waterpollution,increaseinshiptrafficandthepopulationrelocationwereraised.Thelivingconditionofbaijisdeterioratedsorapidlythatin2006,baijiwasofficiallydeclaredextinct.Notonlybaijiisaffected,theimpactsofthedamonSiberianCranemayalsobecatastrophic.Itisestimatedthat95%ofthe3200criticallyendangeredSiberianCranenormallywinterinthePoyangLake,ahabitatofftheSouthbankofYangtzeRiver（SiberianCrane,http:

//www.wikipedia.org/,2014）.Unfortunately,inordertostorewaterfor ThreeGorgesDam,theareaofthelakedwindledtoonly200squarekilometresin2012（PoyangLake,http:

//www.wikipedia.org/,2013）.Ifmostofthesewinterlandsaredestroyed,thecraneswillfacethesamefateofextinctionasBaijis.

ThisisapictureofthecrackedbedofthedriedareaofXieshan,whichispartofPoyangLakeineastChina'sJiangxiprovince（ChinaLakeDrought,,2012）

TheconstructionandfunctionofThreeGorgesDamhavetriggereddeforestation,whichincreasedtheamountofgreenhousegasemission.AccordingtoFerraro’sresearch（2007）,primarily,deforestationoccurredonalargescaleoutofnecessity.Farmlandsareneededfortherefugeeswhosehomesandfarmswerefloodedbythereservoir.Inaddition,somefactoriestookadvantageofthepowerandtransportopportunitiespromisedbytheThreeGorgesDam.Largescaleofunregulatedloggingswascarriedoutinordertosatisfythedemandsforindustrialization（Chan,2007）.Thisisdevastatingbecauseforestsplayacrucialroleinnegatinggreenhousegasaccumulationintheatmosphere.Someexpertsclaimedthatcarbondioxideproducedduringtheconstructionofdamisnegligible.NeverthelessresearcherFerraro（2007）statedcarbondioxideproducedfromdeforestationisresponsiblefor20%oftheworld’sgreenhousegasemissions.Furthermorecarbondioxideisnormallyreleasedwhenthereservoirisflooded.Consequently,treesarelikelytodecomposeatthebottomofthereservoirwithoutoxygen.Thedissolvedgreenhousegaslikemethanewillbuildupandbereleasedtotheatmospherewhenwaterpassesthroughturbines.ThisisthereasonwhyÉricDuchemin,aconsultantfortheIntergovernmentalPanelonClimateChange（IPCC）claimed“hydropowermaynotbeacleanalternativetofossilfuels（Graham-Rowe,2005）”

TheThreeGorgesDamalsocausedseverepollutioninYangtzeRiver,contaminatedthewatersourceofmanyresidents.TheThreeGorgesDamactedlikeabarrier,trappedthewastematerialsintheriverinsteadofwashingthemouttothesea（China’sThreeGorgesDam,1999）.YangtzeRiverisalreadyoneofthemostpollutedriversintheworld（Jiang,2007）.Thepollutedwateralsosubmergedsomesanitationinfrastructure,deterioratedthecondition（ThreatofPollutionintheYangtze,http:

//wwf.panda.org/,N/A）.Ferraro（2007）statedthat“thereservoirhasflooded1,600abandonedfactories,minesanddumps;blockedapproximatelytenmilliontonsofplasticbags,animalcorpsesandtrees;morethan265gallonsofrawsewagearealsodumpedintotheYangtzeeveryyear.”Unfortunately,becauseYangtzeRiverisproximaltomanymajorcitycenters,itistheonlywatersourcetoabout300millionpeople.Th